About honesty, dishonesty and tank biathlon
The international army games (“Army-2018”) are held for the fourth time. Competitions every year expand the number of participants, and competitions and disciplines are also added. Although, I must say, this year, for some unknown and not officially announced reason, the international stage of the Sky Keys anti-aircraft missile defense forces did not take place, although there was an army stage.
Of course, different contests cause different interest. Many, most likely, are interesting to a narrow circle of those involved, and others are interested in who won in the end, and nothing more. Of course, the main types, such as Aviadarts, Suvorov’s onslaught (biathlon at BMP), Amphibious Platoon, Award Troop Intelligence, Sea Troopers, and others, are also of considerable interest, but the biathlon is interesting where more, because it all started in 2013
By the way, about other nominations - most of our species are won by ours, the Chinese somewhere win, many Kazakhstanis win, there are contests won by the Iranians, and so on. There are nominations in which a lot decides the venue - for example, the Chinese’s victory at the “onslaught of Suvorov” is not at all surprising, the cars this time were about equivalent (ours were on the BMP-2, the Chinese were on a modernized BMP of about the same level, although it would be It is more interesting to look at the “battle” of the upgraded BMP-3 and ZBD-04A, also related machines, but of a different generation), but the home ground “roll” is much easier than someone else’s. Also, their victory in China in the Marine Corps competition, where everyone went to the Chinese BMPs, is not surprising (the Chinese apparatus is very specific, and if on land, for example, you can compete with it, then it floats exactly faster than all possible competitors). Or a sniper competition, held in Belarus - the victory of the Belarusians is not surprising.
The high result of our VKS at Aviadarts, with their considerable real combat experience and technical level of machines, should not be surprised either, especially since this time the competition was taking place here. Somewhere, luck and skill decide, more precisely, the level that we managed to show at the moment. In general, this is, of course, army, but sport, and it is at the international stages of "sport" more than the "army" itself (say, tank biathlon this year at the intra-army stage was a platoon competition, much closer to the usual competition than to shooting races, which is the international stage).
But of most interest is, of course, "Tank Biathlon". It's like a medal, say, the Winter Olympics - all are important, but who will win in hockey - everyone is interested in much more than everything else. The main contenders for victory, as in previous years, are our tank crews, as well as teams of the PRC, Belarus and Kazakhstan, who were in the lead in individual heats and semi-finals, and in the end were selected to the final. Moreover, our chances are rated the highest, the Chinese and others are lower (at the time of writing the final result was not yet known).
At the same time, for some reason, from time to time one has to hear and read rather strange opinions about a certain dishonesty of international competitions in “Tank Biathlon”. They say that dishonest swindlers from the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation drive better tanks than those provided by other teams - everyone drives ordinary T-72B3, while the Russians have a completely different tank! Although commentators of the competition and argue that the tanks T-72B3 all teams are exactly the same.
In fact, this is not the case, and this is, in general, an open secret. All the teams, except for the national teams of Russia and Belarus, ride the usual T-72B3 model 2011 g., Equipped with a B-84MS engine with a power 840 hp. The Russian team used to perform on the so-called “biathlon” T-72B3, often they are called T-72B4, although no one officially called them - these were tanks equipped with 1130-strong diesel B-92C2F and a host of other useful “bells and whistles” including commander panoramic sight with a thermal imaging channel. Such tanks were issued about 30, about the battalion, and they were used mostly for competition, and therefore deserved such a nickname. However, on their own fire disciplines on the "biathlon" are quite simple and sometimes not that the panorama is not needed there (it is overweight), but even the main multi-channel gunner sight of the ISM "Pine-U" does not use some crews, firing in the old manner through The doubler sight 1А40-4 (well, this is a doubler on the T-72B3 1А40, and the main one on the regular Beschke). Then in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation appeared T-72B3 tanks of model 2016, they are also “T-72B3 with enhanced protection”, they are also, unofficially, T-72B3M, and now officially are called “T-72B3 with improved combat characteristics” 72B3 UBH. They are also equipped with 1130 hp engines. (which is important in relation to competitive practice, where “running” is much more important at this stage than shooting), but there is no panorama there.
These tanks are increasingly in the army, and the improvement of the B3 series will continue further. And the point is not in the mythical “rejection” of the T-14 “Armata”, which is so fashionable to discuss on the Internet and the media, after regular unintelligible speeches, but in the fact that tanks need much more than was previously thought, and not against all opponents need a supertank. Nowhere “Armata” does not go anywhere and no one refuses it, but it’s clear that it’s impossible to equip the whole army with them quickly and unnecessarily, all the more so in conditions of constant formation of new connections this is impossible with much more substantial financial support. And inadequate mass reactions to various strange speeches by commanders have a kind of tradition here. Some people continue to disperse this “wave” with a broom, without disdaining fakes. An example of this is the publication of RBC the other day about an allegedly new robotic complex based on T-72, which is being created supposedly in exchange for the fact that based on “Armata”, which was “abandoned” - in reality, the guys just saw one presentation on the Web and give something out described for real OCD. And the party in a hundred machines for military trials is made for the "failure"? And mass production at UVZ prepare what kind of machines? But we were distracted, we have T-14 while on the "biathlon" does not act. Although I would very much like to see many, see him there.
Indeed, both in this and in the previous year, the Russian team went on tanks that looked like the usual T-72B3 (a tank with a UBH differs in dynamic protection "Relic" on the sides and a number of other noticeable details), with the same screen shot DZ modules, like all, but it is easy, looking at the exhaust pipe, to understand that the engine is B-92C2F. In general, it is not so important, tanks of the 2016 model were taken from it and they removed a protective body kit that was not needed at the competitions, or a panoramic sight was removed from the “biathlon” version - the result is almost the same. Also, if you look at the tanks of other teams, it is clear that the Belarusian brothers have the same engine. And there is nothing surprising, namely the T-72B3 UBH Belarus tanks are now being purchased, and they could come with their cars, as the Chinese comrades with the ZTZ-96B do (or, more precisely, with tanks that look the same with the drill tanks of this modification ), and agree with the Russians on the provision of the use of the same as purchased, machines - also could.
And all the rest are provided with T-72B3 with a 840-strong diesel. Note, free of charge, and, considering the number of participants and the fact that each team is assigned only X-NUMX tank riders, they are recruited for a whole tank regiment! Sorry, but we, of course, already have a lot of T-4B72 (their number significantly exceeded 3 thousand and it was a long time ago), but it’s a lot for us, but for some European power like Germany, France or Italy there will be half of the tank fleet, if we count combat-ready machines, it is still unknown whether there will be so much. And then - please, good Russians give you tanks, just ride and shoot. Guests and go, and shoot, and the tanks consume the resource, and very quickly, because the load is very high, because in normal operation, the tanks do not rush at maximum speed or for passport values, do not jump at the same time so that utykanie trunk occurs (it was observed more than once, it was still lucky that no one ever tore the cannon apart from the ground left in it), or even the tower flies upward (this year it happened with Kazakhstanis, as well as with the Chinese, but those tanks have their own, and we no pity). There were serious damage and repairs to the machines after the competition will be required. Moreover, they even had to tighten the regulations, introducing penalties for serious damage to tanks caused by the crews, and the list is rather big. So why would we still provide all of us with the most modern tanks, and also for free?
At one time, the guests were offered an alternative when the Russians went to the "panoramic" version of the T-72B3 - either a regular T-72B3 for free, or for the difference in price, get the same "biathlon" tank. For some reason, no one agreed. Obviously, the same rule applies now. In addition, Russia, in general, is profitable to provide its equipment from the point of view of commerce - someone can eventually order a similar upgrade of the T-72 or buy new T-90С or MS tanks.
And Russia, too, does not prohibit anyone to bring their tanks. What prevents the Iranians from bringing anything from their vast freak show - even the Chiften, even the M60, even the T-72C, or even the Solfar-3 and Carrara of their design? Nothing but unwillingness to spend big money on transportation and fear of losing with a crash on either outdated or obviously raw products. What prevents to do the same to others? Nothing, either, because the Chinese carry - for them the opportunity to compete with the armored vehicles of the “militant people” (as they often call us there even in the official Chinese press) is expensive, and they really want to win someday, and this can happen - it is still a sport . And the Israelis participating in a number of contests could bring “Merkavu” (another question is that it doesn’t shine there for a number of reasons, and they understand it, and they don’t need negative PR). The South African national team could bring their Olifant-1B - but this is expensive for the current South African. India brought its T-90C, but it didn't work out very well, they spoiled their tanks then. But you can still try - what did not? Azerbaijan can bring the same tanks, while Kuwait and the Abrams M1А2 are available - but they don’t want to, but they ride free tanks. When the Crimea was still not ours and the Americans with NATO members still pretended that they were “friends” to us and were going to come to our tank biathlon, we expected that one of them would come with their tanks and wait for them (and consider various options for answering , the result of which was the "biathlon" T-72B3, and as an option it was planned for T-80U). Although the Americans and the Germans, for example, were preparing to speak at the T-72, but then very well there was a reason to refuse. But if Abrams and Leopards-2 were brought (for all the weakness of this car as a battle tank, it’s a strong competitive opponent), then it would be interesting, and no one, I'm sure, about the “dissimilarity” of tanks from current critics would give a hint.
So reproaches about dishonesty look rather strange and biased. For some reason, you will not hear them from the tankers themselves, including from foreign ones, especially since many T-72 member countries are found, but there are no modernized machines of the T-72B3 level, and they are interested in driving them. Another thing is that in any sport is full of their little tricks. For example, teams cut holes in the front mudguards and side screens in different ways so that the tank does not “inflate” these screens with water during a jump from acceleration into the water, and then the tank does not touch these “fluffy skirts” for the posts and does not earn fines. Different devices and tricks are used to improve the blowing and ventilation of the engines. The Russian tanks installed leading sprockets of increased diameter. The Chinese have a tank at all, which even officially is significantly lighter than ours, and how much it weighs actually is a question. Considering the Chinese tricks of the past years, it seems like using the "hole" in the rules allowing the use of sub-caliber shots instead of practical cumulative shots (which greatly simplifies aiming) - we can expect any quirks from our Chinese friends.
But this is quite normal for technical sports. When people watch motor racing, motorcycle racing, or, say, cycling, no one is indignant that all bicycles or race cars are different? And skiers on biathlon why everyone does not run with the same rifles? Why should tanks be like that? Because people with a liberal imbalance of the brain want for something to "kick the hated regime"?
In addition, engines and other tricks - it's not all on the tank biathlon. Ultimately decides the crew. The skill of the driver, the accuracy of the gunner-operator or commander. Or rather, strong nerves, because failures at such competitions are much more nervous than technical. Just a couple of times to lubricate and knock down a few posts - and the resulting two penalty circles and several control penalty stops will “eat” what can be squeezed onto the straight lines at the expense of the engine. And there are plenty of examples. Thus, the formally faster tanks of the Belarusians did not allow them to win against Kazakhstani tankers in the third semifinal. Actually, for such surprises and for fighting technical sports we love, and TB is still a sport, albeit on tanks.
Of course, different contests cause different interest. Many, most likely, are interesting to a narrow circle of those involved, and others are interested in who won in the end, and nothing more. Of course, the main types, such as Aviadarts, Suvorov’s onslaught (biathlon at BMP), Amphibious Platoon, Award Troop Intelligence, Sea Troopers, and others, are also of considerable interest, but the biathlon is interesting where more, because it all started in 2013
By the way, about other nominations - most of our species are won by ours, the Chinese somewhere win, many Kazakhstanis win, there are contests won by the Iranians, and so on. There are nominations in which a lot decides the venue - for example, the Chinese’s victory at the “onslaught of Suvorov” is not at all surprising, the cars this time were about equivalent (ours were on the BMP-2, the Chinese were on a modernized BMP of about the same level, although it would be It is more interesting to look at the “battle” of the upgraded BMP-3 and ZBD-04A, also related machines, but of a different generation), but the home ground “roll” is much easier than someone else’s. Also, their victory in China in the Marine Corps competition, where everyone went to the Chinese BMPs, is not surprising (the Chinese apparatus is very specific, and if on land, for example, you can compete with it, then it floats exactly faster than all possible competitors). Or a sniper competition, held in Belarus - the victory of the Belarusians is not surprising.
The high result of our VKS at Aviadarts, with their considerable real combat experience and technical level of machines, should not be surprised either, especially since this time the competition was taking place here. Somewhere, luck and skill decide, more precisely, the level that we managed to show at the moment. In general, this is, of course, army, but sport, and it is at the international stages of "sport" more than the "army" itself (say, tank biathlon this year at the intra-army stage was a platoon competition, much closer to the usual competition than to shooting races, which is the international stage).
But of most interest is, of course, "Tank Biathlon". It's like a medal, say, the Winter Olympics - all are important, but who will win in hockey - everyone is interested in much more than everything else. The main contenders for victory, as in previous years, are our tank crews, as well as teams of the PRC, Belarus and Kazakhstan, who were in the lead in individual heats and semi-finals, and in the end were selected to the final. Moreover, our chances are rated the highest, the Chinese and others are lower (at the time of writing the final result was not yet known).
At the same time, for some reason, from time to time one has to hear and read rather strange opinions about a certain dishonesty of international competitions in “Tank Biathlon”. They say that dishonest swindlers from the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation drive better tanks than those provided by other teams - everyone drives ordinary T-72B3, while the Russians have a completely different tank! Although commentators of the competition and argue that the tanks T-72B3 all teams are exactly the same.
In fact, this is not the case, and this is, in general, an open secret. All the teams, except for the national teams of Russia and Belarus, ride the usual T-72B3 model 2011 g., Equipped with a B-84MS engine with a power 840 hp. The Russian team used to perform on the so-called “biathlon” T-72B3, often they are called T-72B4, although no one officially called them - these were tanks equipped with 1130-strong diesel B-92C2F and a host of other useful “bells and whistles” including commander panoramic sight with a thermal imaging channel. Such tanks were issued about 30, about the battalion, and they were used mostly for competition, and therefore deserved such a nickname. However, on their own fire disciplines on the "biathlon" are quite simple and sometimes not that the panorama is not needed there (it is overweight), but even the main multi-channel gunner sight of the ISM "Pine-U" does not use some crews, firing in the old manner through The doubler sight 1А40-4 (well, this is a doubler on the T-72B3 1А40, and the main one on the regular Beschke). Then in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation appeared T-72B3 tanks of model 2016, they are also “T-72B3 with enhanced protection”, they are also, unofficially, T-72B3M, and now officially are called “T-72B3 with improved combat characteristics” 72B3 UBH. They are also equipped with 1130 hp engines. (which is important in relation to competitive practice, where “running” is much more important at this stage than shooting), but there is no panorama there.
These tanks are increasingly in the army, and the improvement of the B3 series will continue further. And the point is not in the mythical “rejection” of the T-14 “Armata”, which is so fashionable to discuss on the Internet and the media, after regular unintelligible speeches, but in the fact that tanks need much more than was previously thought, and not against all opponents need a supertank. Nowhere “Armata” does not go anywhere and no one refuses it, but it’s clear that it’s impossible to equip the whole army with them quickly and unnecessarily, all the more so in conditions of constant formation of new connections this is impossible with much more substantial financial support. And inadequate mass reactions to various strange speeches by commanders have a kind of tradition here. Some people continue to disperse this “wave” with a broom, without disdaining fakes. An example of this is the publication of RBC the other day about an allegedly new robotic complex based on T-72, which is being created supposedly in exchange for the fact that based on “Armata”, which was “abandoned” - in reality, the guys just saw one presentation on the Web and give something out described for real OCD. And the party in a hundred machines for military trials is made for the "failure"? And mass production at UVZ prepare what kind of machines? But we were distracted, we have T-14 while on the "biathlon" does not act. Although I would very much like to see many, see him there.
Indeed, both in this and in the previous year, the Russian team went on tanks that looked like the usual T-72B3 (a tank with a UBH differs in dynamic protection "Relic" on the sides and a number of other noticeable details), with the same screen shot DZ modules, like all, but it is easy, looking at the exhaust pipe, to understand that the engine is B-92C2F. In general, it is not so important, tanks of the 2016 model were taken from it and they removed a protective body kit that was not needed at the competitions, or a panoramic sight was removed from the “biathlon” version - the result is almost the same. Also, if you look at the tanks of other teams, it is clear that the Belarusian brothers have the same engine. And there is nothing surprising, namely the T-72B3 UBH Belarus tanks are now being purchased, and they could come with their cars, as the Chinese comrades with the ZTZ-96B do (or, more precisely, with tanks that look the same with the drill tanks of this modification ), and agree with the Russians on the provision of the use of the same as purchased, machines - also could.
And all the rest are provided with T-72B3 with a 840-strong diesel. Note, free of charge, and, considering the number of participants and the fact that each team is assigned only X-NUMX tank riders, they are recruited for a whole tank regiment! Sorry, but we, of course, already have a lot of T-4B72 (their number significantly exceeded 3 thousand and it was a long time ago), but it’s a lot for us, but for some European power like Germany, France or Italy there will be half of the tank fleet, if we count combat-ready machines, it is still unknown whether there will be so much. And then - please, good Russians give you tanks, just ride and shoot. Guests and go, and shoot, and the tanks consume the resource, and very quickly, because the load is very high, because in normal operation, the tanks do not rush at maximum speed or for passport values, do not jump at the same time so that utykanie trunk occurs (it was observed more than once, it was still lucky that no one ever tore the cannon apart from the ground left in it), or even the tower flies upward (this year it happened with Kazakhstanis, as well as with the Chinese, but those tanks have their own, and we no pity). There were serious damage and repairs to the machines after the competition will be required. Moreover, they even had to tighten the regulations, introducing penalties for serious damage to tanks caused by the crews, and the list is rather big. So why would we still provide all of us with the most modern tanks, and also for free?
At one time, the guests were offered an alternative when the Russians went to the "panoramic" version of the T-72B3 - either a regular T-72B3 for free, or for the difference in price, get the same "biathlon" tank. For some reason, no one agreed. Obviously, the same rule applies now. In addition, Russia, in general, is profitable to provide its equipment from the point of view of commerce - someone can eventually order a similar upgrade of the T-72 or buy new T-90С or MS tanks.
And Russia, too, does not prohibit anyone to bring their tanks. What prevents the Iranians from bringing anything from their vast freak show - even the Chiften, even the M60, even the T-72C, or even the Solfar-3 and Carrara of their design? Nothing but unwillingness to spend big money on transportation and fear of losing with a crash on either outdated or obviously raw products. What prevents to do the same to others? Nothing, either, because the Chinese carry - for them the opportunity to compete with the armored vehicles of the “militant people” (as they often call us there even in the official Chinese press) is expensive, and they really want to win someday, and this can happen - it is still a sport . And the Israelis participating in a number of contests could bring “Merkavu” (another question is that it doesn’t shine there for a number of reasons, and they understand it, and they don’t need negative PR). The South African national team could bring their Olifant-1B - but this is expensive for the current South African. India brought its T-90C, but it didn't work out very well, they spoiled their tanks then. But you can still try - what did not? Azerbaijan can bring the same tanks, while Kuwait and the Abrams M1А2 are available - but they don’t want to, but they ride free tanks. When the Crimea was still not ours and the Americans with NATO members still pretended that they were “friends” to us and were going to come to our tank biathlon, we expected that one of them would come with their tanks and wait for them (and consider various options for answering , the result of which was the "biathlon" T-72B3, and as an option it was planned for T-80U). Although the Americans and the Germans, for example, were preparing to speak at the T-72, but then very well there was a reason to refuse. But if Abrams and Leopards-2 were brought (for all the weakness of this car as a battle tank, it’s a strong competitive opponent), then it would be interesting, and no one, I'm sure, about the “dissimilarity” of tanks from current critics would give a hint.
So reproaches about dishonesty look rather strange and biased. For some reason, you will not hear them from the tankers themselves, including from foreign ones, especially since many T-72 member countries are found, but there are no modernized machines of the T-72B3 level, and they are interested in driving them. Another thing is that in any sport is full of their little tricks. For example, teams cut holes in the front mudguards and side screens in different ways so that the tank does not “inflate” these screens with water during a jump from acceleration into the water, and then the tank does not touch these “fluffy skirts” for the posts and does not earn fines. Different devices and tricks are used to improve the blowing and ventilation of the engines. The Russian tanks installed leading sprockets of increased diameter. The Chinese have a tank at all, which even officially is significantly lighter than ours, and how much it weighs actually is a question. Considering the Chinese tricks of the past years, it seems like using the "hole" in the rules allowing the use of sub-caliber shots instead of practical cumulative shots (which greatly simplifies aiming) - we can expect any quirks from our Chinese friends.
But this is quite normal for technical sports. When people watch motor racing, motorcycle racing, or, say, cycling, no one is indignant that all bicycles or race cars are different? And skiers on biathlon why everyone does not run with the same rifles? Why should tanks be like that? Because people with a liberal imbalance of the brain want for something to "kick the hated regime"?
In addition, engines and other tricks - it's not all on the tank biathlon. Ultimately decides the crew. The skill of the driver, the accuracy of the gunner-operator or commander. Or rather, strong nerves, because failures at such competitions are much more nervous than technical. Just a couple of times to lubricate and knock down a few posts - and the resulting two penalty circles and several control penalty stops will “eat” what can be squeezed onto the straight lines at the expense of the engine. And there are plenty of examples. Thus, the formally faster tanks of the Belarusians did not allow them to win against Kazakhstani tankers in the third semifinal. Actually, for such surprises and for fighting technical sports we love, and TB is still a sport, albeit on tanks.
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